Kent: “This front row start did not came easy”

A tough time in Qualifying for Danny Kent as he battles through traffic to secure front row.

Times in the Moto3™ World Championship continued to improve during Saturday practice at the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon as the sun shone over the Spanish circuit. This weekend has seen Leopard Racing’s Danny Kent somewhat further down the timing sheets than usual, the Brit resolving front end issues before moving on to experiment with setting. All the issues of Friday were resolved, but problems with traffic limited Kent during the Qualifying session.

As the championship leader and one of the fastest riders on the grid, Kent is one of the most commonly targeted riders when others are looking for a tow. This created a lot of traffic, especially down the back straight, and forced Kent to sit up on multiple occasions. On his final lap it was Kent himself who benefited from a helpful slipstream to improve his position. He ended 0.201s off pole and will start Sunday’s race in third.

Danny Kent: “It was a good qualifying even if we had some traffic on track but I’m happy to start from the front row again. However, this front row start did not came easy because we were struggling on the back straight all weekend thus far where we had to look for a good slipstream. I have been one of the fastest riders this year so everyone is looking for my slipstream but this time I was forced to find one, but all other riders were following me. Luckily, I was able to get a good slipstream during my last lap, which was a strong lap in general. Thanks to it, we qualified for the front row. I’m happy with it and I’ve good feeling with the bike as Peter, my crew-chief, did a great job once again because we struggled yesterday with the front-end feeling but for today all was fixed. We did a good job so thanks to my guys for it. We are back to how I felt at the beginning of the year. So I look forward with confidence to tomorrow’s race at the Motorland.”